bogged down by hierarchical circles

A quick review of where we are with the whole hierarchy of circles thingy.

I am trying to put together a system of stealing time. I think that this is a noble effort. It’s a humble attempt to find an hour or two, buried somewhere, deep inside our hectic lives. If we are lucky or cunning enough to identify those few hours, perhaps we can begin to inch a little bit closer to realizing our dreams.

I am aware that it is imprudent of me to post my thought in their roughly edited form. They come to me every morning; brilliant or dull, inspiring or forgettable. I make no judgement. I do my best and I ship them out, so I can do it again.

The world might be better served if I waited. It would probably be more beneficial to me in the long run if I gave myself more time and a real opportunity to sound more scholarly, by not exposing my obvious limitations, and silly childish errors.

The problem is that I have come to know myself very well.

If I waited for my work to be polished, properly edited, and academically acceptable, I would have nothing to show for my effort, having quit and accomplished nothing.

These flawed and capricious entries are my personal response to Seth Godin’s call to artists through the Habits of Successful Artists. After reading his book the Icarus Deception, I transcribed them and stapled them to my wall, like commandments. I want them to burn deep inside my unconscious mind.

Habits of Successful Artists

learn to sell what you’ve made

say Thank You in writing

speak in public

fail often

see the world as it is

make predictions

teach others

write daily

connect others

lead a Tribe

I am beginning to think that the title, The Hierarchy of Stealing Time misses its mark. I no longer see a ladder. I am not climbing anything. I just see fucking circles.

Perhaps I have the seventh sense, and it’s more proper to call this whole exercise The Circles of Time.

The idea of hierarchy just doesn’t seem to work here anymore. We don’t live our lives on a ladder. It seems a very simplistic way to perceive our lives. It’s easy of course. Linear thinking is always easier to understand but I think this is where Maslow was wrong.

In an affluent society, that serves itself at the soft touch of a button, it is very easy to hypothesize that we need the comfort of shelter, clothing, and security, before you can arrive at the important questions that life demands of us. However, Viktor Frankl, facing the ultimate hell in Auschwitz, offers a different hypothesis.

It is truly possible to live a happy and meaningful life, even in the shittiest of human conditions and circumstances. His book, Man’s Search for Meaning, is a very relevant architectural design of self-actualization. More so than Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It should be the cornerstone of our lives.

The Circle of Untouchability is just a group of realities that we must always take care of. I have tried to make the point that despite everything, we should live honourable and ethical lives. We must honour our commitments and responsibilities to our spouse and our children, and in that particular order.

Today, I was going to write about what we owe our parents, and how our dreams should always give thanks to the debt they paid for us, and how we must never forget them.

If we re-examine the ten commandments, we will find that there are only six. The first four tell us to love God freely and unconditionally, and what that process looks like when it is done well. That leaves us with only six, non-asshole things we should strive to avoid.

Six.

Honouring our father and mother is first on the list!

After that comes the good stuff. Murder. Good old fashioned whoring that ruins our marriage, with or without whips. Theft. Gossip. And we top it all off with a miserable life of navel gazing, sprinkled with a healthy dose of jealousy.

I will be writing about our parents next, and the duty we have, to take care of them and remember them, but that will have to wait for another day.

If you are part of my clan, I wish you an early Good Friday. If you are not, may you too, have yourself a wonderful weekend.